A tour of bean to brew

Text & photos by THERESE J. CAMET

On the average, �coffee drinkers� spend 30 to 60 minutes a day relishing their favorite brew during coffee break while real �coffee lovers� dedicate just about all of their time supervising their coffee trees!

Recently, we had the chance to visit these so-called ultimate "coffee lovers" in Amadeo, Cavite, as the National Coffee Development Board (NCDB), a private organization designed to develop, promote and save the coffee industry, took members of the press on a "Bean�to�Brew" tour.

Since Amadeo is a 60 kilometers journey south of Metro Manila, we had the chance to learn more about the country�s coffee industry during the two-hour bus ride from NCDB coffee experts Guillermo Luz and Chit Juan.

"We organized this tour to give you hands-on experience of the local coffee industry, which we are committed to revive. We want to show you the different facets of coffee from bean to brew so you can fully appreciate the current status of the industry," said Guillermo Luz, director of the Makati Business Club.

"I�m not a coffee farmer, I don�t even own a coffee shop. I�m not a trader or anything, I�m from the Makati Business Club� but I�m a big coffee drinker, and I just felt that we have to do something about our coffee industry," Luz continued.

Coffee growing in the Philippines started as early as the 1740s when a Franciscan friars brought Arabian coffee beans and planted them at the convent�s backyard. Since then, Filipino farmers from Cavite cultivated the trees and in less than ten years, coffee became a valued commodity in provinces throughout the nation.

Eventually, the Philippines became the fourth top coffee exporter in the world, earning revenues up to $140 million a year on coffee exports. Coffee farmers even had the power to dictate coffee prices.

However, things changed in the 1980s and the Philippines slipped down to number 14, earning only $500,000 (from coffee) annually.

According to Chit Juan, director of the Figaro Foundation Corp., the Philippine coffee industry has a shortfall of 35,000 metric tons of coffee every year.

"We consume about 55,000 metric tons of coffee annually but our annual production is only 20,000 metric tons, so we have to import coffee to meet the demand," shared Juan.

Still, NCDB believes that there is hope in reviving the industry.

"We have good coffee. Our coffee can be at par with the world�s best. The Philippines is one of the few countries which produces the four varieties of coffee beans� Robusta, Excelsa, Arabica and Liberica," stated Luz.

To revitalize the industry, NCDB, the Amadeo Tourism Council, Caf� Amadeo Development Cooperative, Figaro Foundation, Nestle Philippines and the provincial government of Cavite have come up with "Adopt a Farm".

Formerly known as "Leisure Farms", "Adopt a Farm" intends to turn idle or under-utilized lands into productive ones.

"This concept should encourage the private sector to participate in the revitalization of the Amadeo coffee industry and also to generate employment among our people," said Amadeo Mayor Albert "OJ" Ambagan, Jr., during the press briefing at the municipality of Amadeo.

According to Ambagan, Amadeo originally had 4,000 hectares of productive coffee farms but now they are left with only 2,300 hectares.

"We want to revitalize the 1,700 hectares we lost through this program," Ambagan said.

With an initial cost of R10,000 per hectare, interested parties may start adopting a farm.

"Interested planters just have to come to our office for a brief orientation. Then they will be given a tour of the farm. After signing a contract, the adoptee may start clearing the land and begin planting," explained Ambagan.

The local government of Amadeo likewise provides technical assistance and seminars for the farmers.

"This is a good investment and a great experience especially for those who have no experience in farming because they will not only be planting coffees but different crops as well because we do intercropping," said Ambagan.

Major Ambagan and his constituents took us to "The Barako Farm" in Brgy. Dagatan for lunch.

This 1.7-hectare, originally owned by Mayor Ambagan�s family was adopted by Chit Juan of the Figaro Foundation Corp. in August 2002 which aims to revive the "Barako" coffee�a generic name given to all Batangas coffee. Actually, Barako is a Philippine Liberica known for its strong taste and pungent odor.

After lunch, we visited some of the adopted farms in Brgy. Banay Banay, Brgy. Halang, Brgy. Pangil, Brgy. Bucal and Brgy. Talon. Other farms have just been cleared up while some have already been planted with coffee and different kinds of crops like papaya, eggplants, pineapples, tomatoes, peppers and root crops.

Most adoptees are from Manila and only come to Amadeo on weekends.

"I only come here on Saturdays or Sundays after I play golf. I have three assistants who take care of my farm while I�m in Manila," said Melchor Ocampo, a manager in Prudential Life leasing the smallest adopted farm (6,000 sqm.) in Brgy. Banay Banay.

On the other hand, Rechilda Capate who owns a preschool in Antipolo takes care of her adopted 1.2-ha. farm in Brgy. Pangil together with her sons.

"It�s fun, me and my sons come here to work on the farm whenever we�re free and see what needs to be done here," said Rechilda.

Besides the experience and pleasure these farmers get from "leisure farming", they also make money from their crops.

"Our coffee trees are still young. It takes at least 18 months before it can produce cherries, but we were already able to harvest 5 tons of tomatoes in a span of 3 � months which we sold for R20-R25 per kilo. It wasn�t much but it�s a good start," shared Louie Hieras, a farm adoptee in Brgy. Halang.

Next, we explored the "real" coffee farms in Baryo Bucal which occupy a sprawling 30�hectare land planted with 30 to 40�year old coffee trees.

Our guides took us to Beneficio Coffee Mill in Brgy. 1 to see how coffee beans are milled. Nicholas Matti, NCDB co�chairperson explained us how the equipment works.

Since coffee making won�t be complete without roasting the beans, we went to Silang, adjacent to Amadeo, to check out the Gourmet�s roasting facilities.

Last stop was Gourmet Caf� to taste the finished product�hot brewed coffee from Cavite!

Mayor Ambagan and the NCDB are inviting the public to attend the third "Pahimis Coffee Festival" in Amadeo on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 13�14. For inquiries, call Amadeo at (046)413-3010/0917-3273131 or NCDB at 751-1145/751-1143.

http://www.mb.com.ph/issues/2004/02/12/SCTY200402122039.html